Franklin County changes plan for disabled students

Friday

Jun 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2012 at 8:27 AM

The two schools operated by the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities will start the 2014-15 school year with a new curriculum designed to help students ages 14 to 22 transition to adult services and jobs.

Rita Price, The Columbus Dispatch

The two schools operated by the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities will start the 2014-15 school year with a new curriculum designed to help students ages 14 to 22 transition to adult services and jobs.

Board members approved the restructuring plan last night. It effectively phases out school services for children 6 to 13 at both Northeast and West Central schools.

Young students already attending one of those schools, however, will be allowed to continue if their families decide not to move them to their home districts. The board’s early childhood and preschool programs are not affected.

Superintendent Jed Morison said the change was needed to address state and federal policies calling for more school inclusion for disabled students, plus earlier transition services so that teens get better help with job preparation, living skills and the shift to adult programs.

Declining school-age enrollment and sharp reductions in tax revenue also are big issues for Franklin and other county boards.

Statewide, about half of the county developmental disabilities boards have gotten out of the school business.

“I think the proposal is well thought-out and has the benefit of input from staff and families and school districts,” he said. “While not all agree, I believe we have a good compromise as we move forward.”

Most families with developmentally disabled children opt to send them to school in their home districts. But some — especially when the children have more intensive needs — choose Northeast or West Central.

Parent Caroline Lahrmann, whose 12-year-old twins attend West Central, spoke in opposition to the plan last month but said she feels better about some of the recent changes.

Most important, the board has promised to allow for parent input and to work closely with the school districts that will absorb many of the students, she said. West Central and Northeast together have a population of about 300 students ages 6 through 21.

“I want (disabled students) to be a part of the community,” Lahrmann said, and not excluded in their new schools. “They can add a lot if people will just let them — if they open up their hearts and minds.”

The transition schools likely would be the first in the state. Morison said the board won’t need all the space in the two buildings, so it will consider proposals from nonprofit organizations or community groups for suitable programs.

He said the shift will help refine services and reduce costs so that the board doesn’t get “to a point where we have to eliminate the schools entirely, as more than half the county boards have done.”